Editing Conversion to Judaism (section)

==Bnei Anusim==
In recent decades, there has been a renewed Jewish conversion interest with some Bnei Anusim, that is, the descendants of Jews who were [[forced conversion|forced to convert]] to other faiths.

The [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] term for forced converts is "[[Anusim]]" (lit. "forced [converts]"), while the descendants of said converts are called "Bnei Anusim" (lit. "children of forced [converts]").

In the modern era, the single most notable and numerous group of Bnei Anusim converts are the [[Sephardic Bnei Anusim]], descendants of those [[Sephardic Jews]] who were forced to convert to Christianity during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition. They are found throughout [[Iberia]] (Spain and Portugal) and [[Iberoamerica]] (the Hispanic countries of the Americas plus Brazil). There has been a continuous steady growth among them who are now prospective converts, actively seeking conversions back to Judaism.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

Since many Bnei Anusim (i.e. descendants of forced converts) lack an unbroken matrilineal Jewish line of descent or lack satisfactory documentary evidence to that effect (even if they can prove Jewish ancestry along one or all other of their lineages besides their direct matrilineal lineage), conversion has been a growing option for them to return to Judaism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kulanu.org/anousim/index.html |title=Index|access-date=18 June 2009 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>